Senator Thom Tillis and a coalition of 43 Republican colleagues are pushing forward with the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, an initiative aimed at ensuring infants who survive abortions receive mandatory medical attention. As reported by Tillis's Senate page, the measure seeks to instill a legal requirement for healthcare practitioners to administer the same degree of care to these newborns as would be provided to any other infant in similar conditions.
In a bold assertion, Senator Tillis expressed his position, "Ensuring that newborn babies receive medical care, regardless of the circumstances, should not be a divisive issue," acknowledging the bill's intent to universally safeguard infants born under these circumstances. The proposed law aims to fill in the enforcement gaps left by the Born-Alive Infants Protection Act of 2002, which essentially recognized all newborns as persons entitled to legal protection but did not strictly to mandate the care for those born after a failed abortion.
Under the current legislation from 2002, there is an acknowledgment of the human status of newborns, but an absence of explicit direction on the immediate care following a failed abortion. The newer act introduced by Tillis would not only establish clearer care expectations but also include hospital transfer requirements, a system for mandatory reporting, legal recourse for mothers, and the imposition of penalties for healthcare providers found in violation of the law.
Support for the legislation comes from a broad spectrum of organizations with a vested interest in pro-life advocacy. Among those endorsing the bill are groups like the March for Life Action, Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, and the National Right to Life. A unified front seems to be forming, with a shared goal of seeing the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act put into effect, thus guaranteeing a legal safety net for infants to ultimately receive care notwithstanding the failed procedures they endure.
